Microsporogenesis in Brachiaria bovonei (Chiov.) Robyns and B. subulifolia (Mez) Clayton (Poaceae)

• Autor(a) principal: Risso-Pascotto,Claudicéia
• Data de Publicação: 2009
• Outros Autores: Pagliarini,Maria Suely, Valle,Cacilda Borges do
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Scientia Agrícola (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-90162009000500015
• topic: Brachiaria; meiosis; chromosome number; polyploidy; breeding program

Some African species of Brachiaria have been introduced into the Americas and became the most important forage for pastures in the tropics. New cultivars can be obtained either from direct selections from the natural existing variability in the germplasm collections or from interspecific hybridizations. Polyploidy is predominant in the genus Brachiaria and correlated with apomixis which complicates hybridization. The objective of cytological studies underway on the Brachiaria germplasm collection at Embrapa Beef Cattle is to determine the chromosome number and meiotic behavior of accessions. For the breeding of Brachiaria species, compatible sexual and apomictic accessions need to be identified. Microsporogenesis was evaluated in two accessions of Brachiaria bovonei (BO01 and BO05) and one accession of B. subulifolia (SU01). BO01 is pentaploid (2n = 5x = 45), BO05 is tetraploid (2n = 4x = 36), and SU01 is hexaploid (2n = 6x = 54), derived from x = 9. Meiotic abnormalities typical of polyploids, characterized by precocious chromosome migration to the poles in metaphases, laggard chromosomes in anaphases, and micronuclei in telophases and tetrads, were recorded in high frequency in all the accessions generating unbalanced gametes. Both accessions of B. bovonei presented chromosome stickiness. The results are discussed in the view of the Brachiaria breeding program objectives.